John 15

Jesus the True Vine

1-8 I am the vine, my Father is the vine grower, you are the branches.

• You have been cleansed by my word; now you need to bear fruit, which you can do only if you abide in me. Not all of them were clean, according to 13:11.
• If you bear fruit, He will prune you so that you’ll bear more fruit.
• If you do not abide in me, you will wither, die and be thrown into the fire. I like Coffman’s comments here, which give an example of this, and also addresses the question: To whom does this message apply?

That very evening had revealed Judas as a branch which the Father took away and Peter as a branch that would be pruned. Of course, the primary application to the analogy here is to the apostles; but there is a sense in which, by extension, the teachings apply to all who are in the Lord.

• If you abide in me, you will receive anything you ask, because in you my Father is glorified. I don’t know why this principle wouldn’t apply to us as well, but there is a big “if” here. This doesn’t mean the Father will grant all our selfish wishes. When we abide in Christ, our prayers will be only that His will be done. It is a promise that the Father will give us all we need in order to glorify His name.

9-11 I love you, just as my Father has loved me. You will abide in my love, if you keep my commandments. Make my joy complete, and yours. Another “if.” Does this negate grace? Of course not. The privilege of abiding in the love of Christ, the Son of God, is a gift. If we believe in that gift, we will obey Him.

12-17 Love each other as I have loved you, which is shown by laying down your life for your friends.

• You are no longer my servants, but my friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
• I have chosen you to bear lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask.

The World’s Hatred

18-21 Since the servant is not greater than the Master and because you’re not of the world, it will hate and persecute you, just as it hated and persecuted me,

22-25 They hated me because I exposed their sin. In hating me, they hate my Father also. It fulfills a word in their law, “They hated me without a cause.”

26-27 When the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, comes, he will testify on my behalf, as you will also, because you were with me from the beginning. This could apply only to the Apostles. None of us were with him from the beginning of his ministry.